10.6.09

PREMIER LEAGUE FIELD ANNOUNCED

Matchroom Sport, the promoters, have released the following statement confirming the line up:

"Matchroom Sport can announce the seven players set to take part in this year’s PartyPoker.com Premier League which commences at Penrith Leisure Centre on Thursday 3rd of September and concludes with the play-offs at Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton-on-Sea on the weekend of the 28th and 29th November.

Leading the way is defending champion and World No.1 Ronnie O’Sullivan who will be attempting to lift this title for an astonishing sixth consecutive season and ninth time overall.

The Essex-based ‘Rocket’ has made this Sky Sports-televised event his own in recent times, beating Mark Selby 7-2 in last year’s final, John Higgins 7-4 in 2007 and Jimmy White 7-0 in ’06.

World Champion Higgins will be returning to Premier League action in an attempt to halt O’Sullivan’s dominance and he will be joined by UK Champion and World Championship runner-up Shaun Murphy.

Higgins was a winner of the Premier League ten years ago when he beat Jimmy White in Maidenhead and will be looking to have a good run after failing to qualify for the play-offs last year.

Murphy makes his second appearance in the event, having played in 2005, following a massive return to form over the past 12 months.

World No.8 Marco Fu is also a previous Premier League Champion when in a memorable weekend in May 2003, he toppled O’Sullivan 6-4 in the semi-finals before beating then World Champion Mark Williams 9-5 to land his first professional title.

The second overseas player in the line-up is Australia’s improving Neil Robertson, who bagged his third career ranking title last year when he won the inaugural Bahrain Snooker Championship.

Robertson had a torrid time of it on his only other Premier League outing in 2007 and will be looking to improve on that year’s showing.

While ‘legend’ is a term freely used in sport, it is hard to think of any other word when describing seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry.

The 40 year-old Scot has achieved everything there is to achieve in the game, several times over, and is still a very dangerous competitor. Hendry last won the League in 2004 but that will mean nothing when the action gets underway.

Finally, the joker in the pack is Bristol teenager Judd Trump. The up-and-coming World No.30 qualified for the Premier League by winning the ultra-competitive Championship League Snooker. Hailed as one of snooker’s greatest ever prospects, Trump now gets his chance to see what he can do among the game’s elite.

Commented Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn, “I think this is very exciting line-up with a diverse selection of top players competing.

“Of course, Ronnie will always be the man to beat in this event, but I feel anyone of the others has a chance of winning this title come the end of November.

“Some of the players have struggled with the 25 second shot clock but coping with that has always been one of O’Sullivan’s many strengths.

“The standard is high and I am looking forward to 12 nights of top class snooker in September, October and November this year.”

Now entering its 24th season, the PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker is the world’s only major snooker tournament played to a league format. The field consists of seven of the very best players in the world and each player plays the others once over the best of six frames, making a total of 21 matches.

There are two points available for a win and a point for a 3 – 3 draw and following the round robin section of play, the top four players moved forward to the big money play-offs in December.

The total prize fund is in excess of £200,000, and the money for the round-robin section will be dished out on a ‘frames won’ basis with £1,000 awarded for each frame. In addition, there is a ‘Double Your Money’ bonus for a break of 100 or over of another £1,000.

Successful players carry forward their bonuses to the play-offs where the serious money is up for grabs. The £1,000 for a century bonus stays and the champion receives £30,000, the runner-up takes home an additional £15,000 and the beaten semi-finalists make an extra £5,000 each.

The semi-finals are the best of 11 frames and the final is over 13 frames.

The event will be broadcast for over 48 hours LIVE coverage on Sky Sports in the UK and Matchroom Sport Television will produce 24 x 2 hour highlight programmes syndicated globally."The one player who can count himself unlucky is Mark Selby, who finished runner-up to O'Sullivan in the Premier League last year.

I expect Robertson got the nod over him because of Australian TV sales, although the Melbourne man did win a ranking event (Selby didn't) and got further than the Leicester Jester at the Crucible.

The other surprise is the exclusion of Ding Junhui, but Fu is now the highest ranked Asian and was the UK Championship runner-up last season.

he adapted brilliantly to the format he finished top of the league on 10 points 4 wins and 2 draws out of 6 matches played Hendry in the semi finals and blits him 5-0.

he didnt do himself justice in the final losing 7-2 to Ronnie but Ronnie aside Selbys performance last season was the best ive seen under the shot clock and hes been snubbed this year. if i was Selby id be p**** off.

I pretty much agree with this year's invitations, but I find it massively disappointing that Selby has not been invited.As has been stated on this blog many times, this is a commercial event and players are chosen with the potential for a large TV audience in mind. Selby is a player who makes even the most casual viewer sit up and watch, and for this reason, I think Mr Hearn has made a mistake in leaving him out.That said, which one of those players least deserves to be invited? Answer? NONE. The only one you could argue has not earned his place is Hendry, but his invitation is guaranteed for a good few years yet simply because of what he's achieved in the past, just as Steve Davis had been until this year.Incidentally, I must apologise for the lack of updates at our website recently. It's run entirely by volunteers at present, and I, in particular, have been very busy with other journalistic commitments recently.Marcus

Yes you were. Ask nicely and Dave might give you a gold star. 'Look at me, I knew before everyone else!'

6:44 PM---------------------

firstly, as ive explained, no i wasnt. sorry that you are wrong, but you cant possibly know my thoughts on why i post something.

Dave wasnt asked for anything, let alone a gold star.

Thankfully Dave seems to have accepted my honest explanation about my posting and hasnt saw fit to reply trying to start an arguement about it, which is more than can be said about you.

Lastly, i never said i knew before everyone else. on the contrary i actually posted that id got the info from somewhere else, which to most semi intelligent folk would explain that i knew i wasnt first to know.

Now run along unless you really are trying to disrupt Daves blog.

I posted on topic, about the subject making a point about the names being in the public domain for a while.

You posted a direct dig and an attempt to wind up or **** me off which is exactly what this blog doesnt need!

Selby not being in this is a travesty. He's in the top three players in the world with Higgins and O'Sullivan. The line-up to me is a turn-off in terms of entertainment, Fu and Murphy are two of the most boring players to watch on the circuit. I think Barry's got this one very wrong and I for one won't be watching.

Selby would have been World Champion if he'd beaten Higgins, one or two shots difference between them. I think you'd find most people in the know have Selby as a top three player, despite his developing habit of not winning anything!

"Really don't know how Selby's in the top three players in the world with Higgins and O'Sullivan."

Then you're blind mate.

I agree with anon 11:23am - Selby not being included is a travesty, especially given he reached the final of the championship league and also topped the table in the main event last year.

The real head scratcher is Marco Fu. We all know he's a good player but is he good to watch? I personally don't mind him but I wouldn't tune in especially to watch him and find Ding and Liang a far more entertaining box office material draw than Fu and I'm sure the rest of China and the Far East would concur.

Very disappointing that Selby isn't included but then they take no prisoners in the PL - just ask Mark Williams.

My guess is Selby was in until Murphy did what he did in the worlds and world series after Selby lost the epic match of the season against Higgins.

They've missed a trick by leaving him out but you can't argue against the inclusion of Murphy.

Robertson and Fu are clearly there for tv audience purposes but I still think Ding should've got the nod over Fu. Alright Fu had a better season but Ding will bounce back and he's got a massive following in China and he's also produced some magic in the PL. The format suits his game down to the ground. I'll never forget his trouncing of Davis a couple of seasons back. I've never seen Davis look so perturbed!

Just read some of the other comments. I think it's very professional and credible the way Matchroom have justified each of their selection. It doesn't really leave too much room for argument.

Everyone has their favourite player and I can understand if they're annoyed that he isn't there (Selby for example). But if Selby would have gone further in the Worlds and won a couple of ranking events, he would probably have come before Robertson. After all, sport is all about results (and legends :o) ).

If it's about results then why is Hendry in there? Why is Fu in there? Why isn't Ali Carter, a ranking winner in there? Why isn't Ricky Walden, a ranking winner in there?

The plain fact is that Robertson won a mediocre 'ranking event' and benefitted from a great draw in the World Championship and coming up against the annual under-performer Maguire.

Fu made the UK final and is the top Asian player, the only justification for his inclusion. Dreadful to watch.

I'm shocked at the omission of Selby and also wonder why Carter wasn't invited. These two guys are big players in the future of the game, Fu may have peaked, Robertson will never be more than a top eaight player, Hendry isn't the player he was even 5 years ago, Trump, ok he is there by virtue of a result at least. But in my view only Ronnie, Higgins and Murphy truly deserve their place on results alone.

Robertson inclusion is well deserved not only won a Ranking Event he went from mid 20s provisionally at the start of the season to no 9 and starts the new season no 5 and also a World Championship semi finalist.

he was the player that improved the most from 1 season to another at the top of the game where it maters.

i dont by this nonsense about barhain being mediocre .it was a Ranking Event and if you label tournaments mediocre because some top players are missing then if players are injured and miss wimbledon that also is a mediocre tennis tournament ?

Robertson is not the most improved player of the year. To reach the World Semi Final he beat a woeful Davis, a totally out of form Carter and a very poor Maguire. He was then outclassed by Murphy, who din't even need to accelerate to beat him. Higgins by contrast had three matches against players at the top of their games in Cope, Selby and Allen (another who can be considered unlucky not to be invited). Bahrain WAS a mediocre event, and yes, if Nadal and Federer were not at Wimbledon I'd say the same thing about that. You can only win what is put in front of you granted, but it helps if what is in front of you is someone you are streets better than. To class Bahrain in the same league as the Welsh Open or even Shanghai is ridiculous. He has got in by virtue of his nationality, as has Fu, nothing else. If Robertson was English he'd be nowhere near the Premier League.

to go from provisional about 20+ to WN9 when he could have easily followed Doherty out of the top 32 showed fight.

Barhain is every inch equal to the welsh and China its a Ranking Tournament with Ranking status.

and if you think players pulling out devalues a tournament to that extent theres no point investing in future overseas tournaments because Ronnie will pull out of most and thus in youre opinion devalue the tournament so its pointless.

What you discount is that he should never have allowed himself to fall so low down the rankings in the first place.

I'm not knocking him, he's a great player but he'll never be world champion, just like Maguire. He has benefitted here from his nationality, end of story, anyone that thinks he's got into this on ability is deluded.

i can understand him not being overjoyed but surely he must understand there has to be a cut off point and that the tournament is invitational and the criteria for being picked isnt set in stone and is up to the organisers.

i am sure others have felt overlooked in the past, many with good reason too (as well as mark this year)

you cant just use his performance in it last year as the reason he should be picked IMHO.

lets say someone tops a group and is runner up but doesnt win a game on the main snooker tour or in other big non ws tournaments....that wouldnt hold water FOR ME, so the fact he done well in last years isnt quite enough for me to see he NEEDED to be included, though i would have liked to see him in it.

others have been picked on lots of things, not just what they have done on ws tour last year (and some of those picked didnt play last year so they cant be directly compared to selby and his performance in last years as they werent in it)

i dont think Jimmy would be a viable offering because hes nowhere near venues or the top of the game and its not a case of wanting players in the league because theres cases for many even Stephen Maguire Last season winning 2 Ranking Tournaments in 2007/2008.

but Barry Hearn has put players in based on popularity and not on achievemant so if he had followed previous years protocall Murphy wouldnt be in and Selby would because he is more popular than Murphy and same with Marco Fu getting the nod ahead of Ding or Wenbo.

the only player in the League this year based on popularity rather than achievemant is Hendry.

im a Hendry fan but id have rather see Selby taking Hendrys place for Credability sake because he absalutly anialated Hendry last year in the League 10-1.

For me it goes back to what Dave said a couple of months ago about the Premier League, there is more to the selection criteria than simply form and Matchroom are well within their rights to select whoever they want.

I did have Selby as a certainty and agree that as far as form is concerned, he would have a better claim than Hendry.

As it is though Hendry is more likely to bring in the crowds and personally I'd rather watch him than Selby without a moment's hesitation. Ultimately I doubt that I would be the only one and that has to be a consideration for the organisers.

I mean if it were entirely about 'fairness', surely they should just invite the top 7 in the rankings every year.

it appears to me that some folk on here, while obviously being entitled to their opinion, dont realise that the PL has no obligation to pick the top players in the WS rankings or players who have done well in the PL the year before.

the sooner they realise that fact the sooner they realise they are basing their opinions on criteria that doesnt add up.

yes there are players higher in the WS ranking than those picked and yes there are players who done well in previous years who werent picked the following year, but even though that is correct it has no bearing on how matchroom choose the players they want and so isnt relevant at all.

they choose who they want based on their own thoughts and even though not everyone agrees, they are not saying they pick players who are top of rankings etc and then going back on their word. they are in fact just choosing who they want, which they are quite entitled to do.

We all know that it's Barry's decision and he can pick who he likes. I'm not at all sure that commercially Robertson and perhaps even Hendry make sense. But surely if it was purely to maximise returns he'd have plumped for Ding over Fu? I believe like a few posters that this is one of his very rare commercial mistakes (remember the Romford Rap anyone?). Leaving Selby out is a commercial error as is including Fu. Murphy deserves to be there on merit and will I'm sure attract an audience (probably two-thirds of whom will want to see him get beat), Higgins obviously, as the best player in the world is a shoe-in, Ronnie is untouchable.

So in short, replacing Robertson with Selby and Fu with Ding, in my opinion makes more commercial sense.

Who said anything about favourites? If you are going to respond then perhaps you should read the post properly.

Popularity-wise how can anyone argue that Fu is more commercially viable than Ding exactly? Selby is also a very popular player on the circuit, not just here but also in China. I'm not sure that the Australian fan base is large enough to justify Robertson's inclusion.

He has also overlooked the claims of Mark Allen from a large and growing Irish fan base.

As someone who has been involved in sports promotion for many years, these are the reasons I think he's made an uncharacteristic mistake with the line-up. Absolutely nothing to do with favourite players at all.